Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen dies
PART-TIME KAILUA-KONA RESIDENT SUCCUMBS AT 65 TO NON-HODGKIN’S LYMPHOMA
Man dies
in North
Kona crash
CELEBRITY COUPLE
AMONG GOOD
SAMARITANS WHO
PROVIDED LIFESAVING
MEASURES
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
McGowan
Land fund could get mowed
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS REDUCING PROPERTY TAXES GOING TO PRESERVATION
“If we don’t
buy these land
parcels now,
they won’t be
available in
the future. …
We need to be
able to get to
our mountains,
our seashores, our
shoreline and not have
the public stopped by
private ownership.”
BRENDA FORD, FORMER SOUTH
KONA COUNCILWOMAN
Hawaii coalition opposes con con UNIONS, GROUPS
AMONG NAYSAYERS
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VOL. 50, NO. 289 18 PAGES
INSIDE
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
HONOLULU — A coalition
of Hawaii unions, businesses
and environmentalists is urging
residents to vote in November
against a state constitutional
convention.
The purpose of the convention
would be to amend or
rewrite Hawaii’s Constitution.
“The groups coming together
in opposition of a constitutional
convention don’t always see eyeto
eye,” said Hawaii Government
Employees Association
Executive Director Randy
Perreira in a release Thursday.
“However, we all recognize that
Hawaii’s Constitution is one of
the best in the country and a
con con (constitutional convention)
could very well weaken the
rights and protections that we
have today.”
The coalition, called Preserve
Our Hawaii, includes many of
Hawaii’s major unions, such
as the Hawaii Government
Employees Association, which
is the state’s largest, and unions
representing public school
teachers, police and firefighters.
The Chamber of Commerce
of Hawaii, the Sierra Club of
Hawaii and the Hawaii chapter
of the American Civil Liberties
Union also have joined in the
coalition, as has the Hawaii
Democratic Party.
The coalition warns that
mainland special interest groups
could pour money into the process
in an attempt to advance
their agendas and that approving
a constitutional convention
could weaken protections for the
environment, civil rights, Native
Hawaiian rights, collective bargaining,
public employee pensions
and health care. A constitutional
convention is estimated
to cost $56 million, according
to the Legislative Reference
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEE CONVENTION PAGE 4A
SEATTLE — Paul G. Allen, who
co-founded Microsoft with his
childhood friend Bill Gates before
becoming a billionaire philanthropist
who invested in conservation,
space travel, arts and culture and
professional sports, died Monday.
He was 65.
He died in Seattle from complications
of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,
his company Vulcan Inc.
announced.
Gates said he was heartbroken
about the loss of one of his “oldest
and dearest friends.”
“Personal computing
would not
have existed without
him,” Gates said in a
statement.
“But Paul wasn’t
content with starting
one company.
He channeled his intellect and compassion
into a second act focused
on improving people’s lives and
strengthening communities in
Seattle and around the world. He
was fond of saying, ‘If it has the
potential to do good, then we should
do it,’” Gates wrote.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
called Allen’s contributions to the
company, community and industry
“indispensable.”
“As co-founder of Microsoft, in
his own quiet and persistent way, he
created magical products, experiences
and institutions, and in doing
so, he changed the world,” Nadella
wrote on Twitter.
Allen, an avid sports fan, owned
the Portland Trail Blazers and the
Seattle Seahawks.
BY PHUONG LE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paul Allen’s estate, also known as the Thurston
Estate, is located on the point next to
Kamakahonu Bay. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Allen
SEE ALLEN PAGE 5A
KAILUA-KONA — A
celebrity couple visiting
the Big Island was
among a group of Good
Samaritans who provided
life-saving measures for a
man who ultimately died
after a single-vehicle crash
Sunday morning.
According to tweets by
actress
Rose
McGowan
and supermodel
Rain
Dove,
they were
on scene
when a 53-year-old
man crashed his vehicle
on Queen Kaahumanu
Highway at mile marker
85 in North Kona, just
SEE CRASH PAGE 7A
HILO — How much of the
budget should the county set
aside for preservation and
open space land purchases
each year?
It’s a question the Charter
Commission is grappling
with as it ponders amendments
to be placed on the
2020 ballot. The commission
meets once a decade
to consider changes to the
county charter, the county’s
fundamental governing
document.
All proposals must be
approved by voters in order
to be included in the charter,
which takes precedence over
county code and ordinances.
A four-member committee
of the 11-member commission
is recommending
the county trim the current
minimum 2 percent of
annual property taxes earmarked
for the Public Access
Open Space and Natural
Resources Preservation
Commission, known by the
acronym “PONC.”
Three of the committee
think it should be cut to 0.5
percent, while the fourth
thinks it should be 1 percent,
the committee said in
an Oct. 1 report.
The full commission did
not discuss the committee
report at its meeting Friday.
But Mayor Harry Kim is
hoping changes can be
placed on the 2020 ballot.
Kim would like to see
more flexibility, so the county
could issue bonds instead
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Jacob Esteron cooks out at Kipapa Park on Monday. PONC funds
were used to purchase the land. Top, funds were also used
SEE LAND PAGE 4A for beach access at Ooma. PHOTOS BY LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
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